Studio Power packs / Chargers

[doggiej]

<p>Let me begin by saying although I have been a photographer for more then 35 I am an amateur not a professional. I am recently retired and I have decided to indulge my love of photography. I am setting up a home photo studio and I will be purchasing both Flash and Continuous lighting units, most likely from Cowboy Studios. Cost is an Issue as well as my inexperiance, no need to invest in high end lighting equipment untill I develope my skills and a client base. I am however looking for an external power source to power the lights and flashes. Most of what the units I am interested in have their own AC plugs but rather then using surge strips or extension cords I wanted to get one or two power units or battery units I can plug the lights into. Please any and all sugjestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Frank.</p>

[devon_mccarroll]

My advice would be to skip the cheap brands, because there's no reason to waste your money on something you'll have to pay to replace

just because you're learning. I would start with one good monolight, like an Alien Bees B800 with an umbrella or softbox, and then build

your kit from there as you become more experienced and have the budget. There's a lot you can do with one light and a reflector, and

starting small is a good way to learn lighting.

Unless you'll be shooting in areas with no available power, like outdoors, you shouldn't need a power pack yet, but if you need one, you

can also order Buff's Vagabond. It will power more than one light. Buff's products are affordable, and they will last so that you don't have

to turn around and replace them later. Their customer service is stellar.

As for continuous lighting, if you're going to be photographing people, I'd skip that. They're called hot lights for a reason.

[rob_h5]

<blockquote>

<p>photographer for more then 35 I am an amateur not a professional. I am recently retired and I have decided to indulge my love of photography.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>First welcome back to photography! :)</p>

<p>This question literally gets asked daily in the lighting forums. Any of these studio lights below offer portable battery monolight or pack & head solutions, I have shot with most of these studio lights and they are all superb ... so basically take your pick. In your case because of <strong><em>budget</em></strong> go with Dynalites. They have a new battery inverter out that is supposed to be one of the best in the market.</p>

<p>Dynalite<br /> <a href="http://www.dynalite.com/?page_id=365">http://www.dynalite.com/?page_id=365</a><br /> Dynalite battery inverter<br /> <a href="http://www.dynalite.com/?p=5820">http://www.dynalite.com/?p=5820</a><br>

<br /> <strong>Professional studio lights: monolights, pack and head studio and portable battery studio light generator systems</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Profoto</strong><br /><strong> Hensel</strong><br /><strong> Speedotron</strong><br /><strong> Broncolor</strong><br /><strong> Dynalite </strong><br /><strong> Bowens/Calumet</strong><br /><strong> Elinchrom</strong></p>

[john_a5]

<p>I thought Devon's answer was right on. I started, before I went pro, with one White Lightening--same MFG as Alien Bee. I added two more and some soft boxes when I went pro--now I have 12 of them--even the ones bought 25 years ago still work great.</p>

<p>But starting with one light, maybe two, is all you need for portrait work. <a href="http://www.williamcoupon.com/people_menu.html">William Coupon</a> got famous as a portrait photographer using one light and a softbox. Like most things, we tend to overbuy upfront and it will serve you to find the need rather than think a need.</p>

<p>And certainly, there is no need for independent power. The Alien Bee's have a fairly low power draw ( I often had 3 White Lightnings--higher power than mentioned above--on one circuit with no issue). Anyway, just go slowly and practice and play to figure out your favorite lighting and needs.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>" <em>I wanted to get one or two power units or battery units I can plug the lights into."</em></p>

<p>Not sure exactly what you mean, but you might want to look into Paul C Buffs Vagabond Mini. You can plug 2 monolight into it and depending on the power of the lights, you should be able to do an entire shoot easy. There are also replacement batteries in case you run out of power. The Vagabond Mini works with other Paul C Buff gear such as the Alienbees and the Einsteins<em>. </em></p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>+1 for Paul Buff Vagabond Mini</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

I also recommend you look at the Paul C. Buff lights , but not the AlienBee 800. Instead you should consider the ABR800.

 

Nominally this is a ring flash design and the conventional way to use it is to poke your lens through the hole in the center

of it but it is actually a lot more versatile than that.

 

For starters you can use it as a standard flash head mounted on its own stand, away from the camera. An umbrella

adapter is available or is included with the ABR800 so you can use it with black backed, silvered, or translucent white

umbrellas of different sizes. I could have the numbers wrong but the ABR 800 has approximately 100 watts of modeling

light so you can preview the lighting effect.

 

Additionally there are two "Moon Unit" octagonal softboxes available as accessories. Beyond the light quality of the

softboxes what is really nice about them is how shallow they are compared to either rectangular or octagonal softboxes of

the same size. This makes them far easier to use in small spaces.

 

You can use the Moon Units as standard softboxes but there is also a shoot through diffuser for when you want to use

the ABR 800 as a really diffused ring light source - that makes the ABR + Moon Unit a killer fill light or broad frontal key

light.

 

Finally there is an optional grid spot that fits into the ABR 800's standard reflector. Grid spots make a soft edged "spot

light" effect.

 

 

 

As a battery another vote for either the New Dynalite. Or the Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini Lithium battery.

 

Someone else recommended a list of other, mostly European made, flash equipment insinuating that they are pro gear.

That's true but I've been using Paul C. Buff lights as my primary mid range power lights for a few years now. When I do

need a lot more power I use Broncolor, Dynalite, Elinchrom, and Profoto D4 and Pro 7 & 8 systems.

 

I'll finish by recommending three or four books:

"Light, Science and Magic"; "Matters of Light and Depth"; and Joe McNally's books.

[frank_skomial]

<p>" <em>I am however looking for an external power source to power the lights and flashes,</em> " - not feasible for portable power units.</p>

<p>Good studio flashes have modelling lights that are continuos lights, that can be turned off or dimmed to save the battery, so there is no need for additional lights, unless you shoot video.</p>

<p>After initial load surge, studio flashes draw little average power, and after the flash is charged, only little trickle charge power is needed. This works well with batteries that can sustain instant huge peak power demand but on average use littlle energy.</p>

<p>Continuos lights, if powered from a battery operated source, would quickly use up all the battery energy. Flash light lasts about 1/500 sec, while continuos lights draw energy all the time.</p>

<p> </p>

[model mayhem gallery]

<p>Damn I hate giving up my secretes. But they already gave you half the story here is the other half.<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Lighting-Photograph-Ephotoinc-Uls500led/sim/B003TP0IM8/2">http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Lighting-Photograph-Ephotoinc-Uls500led/sim/B003TP0IM8/2</a><br>

The secrete is... You can use the Vagabon Lithium batteries (not the whole vagabon just the 12v batteries) to power the LED light panels for actually a couple of hours. This is by far the cheapest way I have found to power my video lights. I have 4 12x12 1000 LED panels 4 - AB800 the original Vagabon and about 6 or 7 spare batteries. Their like $39 which is dirt cheap compared to other options. <br>

Some of the LED light panels also have 12v video batteries slots on the back but those are smaller yes, but awfully expensive.<br>

PS - the modeling lights on any AB800 will drain the battery in just a few minutes. As soon as you turn on the tungton light on a battery source the battery inverter will start to hum or beep because it is being overloaded. However, I can run 2 - 3 LED light panels at full power on 1 Vagabon I. For Vagabon mini not sure but I would look at one for each panel.<br>

Then you have to ask yourself do you really need strobe. I find I am sometimes more creating with continous lighting as I use a lot of primes that are 2.8 and faster. Can't use thes with strobes at all because I can not get the strobe power down low enough with a sync of 1/200 to use an F1.2 lens. However, this works great with panels....</p>

 

[model mayhem gallery]

<p>Here is the place I baught mine. If you want good LED light on a budget this is going to be hard to beat. I went with 4 of the 1000 LED panels but I had the money back then. I sometimes find them to be too bright and wish I had went with more but smaller panels. Often placement is more important than power.<br>

<a href="http://www.ephotoinc.com/500-led-video-photography-panel-light-lighting-head-500.html">http://www.ephotoinc.com/500-led-video-photography-panel-light-lighting-head-500.html</a></p>